GNAR offers kids a chance at adventure

Just prior to taking off on the Gnarliest Kids Adventure Race, Allan Kelly's team of young boys gathered around him at Camp Pinnacle to talk strategy.

By Nathaniel AxtellTimes-News Staff Writer

Just prior to taking off on the Gnarliest Kids Adventure Race, Allan Kelly's team of young boys gathered around him at Camp Pinnacle to talk strategy.

His son Tony's plan was to disorient the competition by shrilly blowing the whistle built into his wristwatch. Colton Hall, 10, figured he'd be more fleet-footed without the 1-liter bottle of water in his backpack. With plans laid, “Team Fireball” raced off to get a turn on the camp's basketball court.

“From what I can see, their strategy is burning all their energy before the race,” Kelly grinned as he watched Tony, Colton and pal Gabe Pace sprinting down the hill.

About 200 kids ages 5 through 14 participated in The GNAR – at it's dubbed – on Sunday, navigating a variety of challenges along a top-secret course that was put together Saturday night in the rain by race organizers and volunteers.

“I'd like to say we had a dry run, but it was really a wet run,” joked Holly Robinson, whose husband, Rodney, is the race director. It was the second time the course was assembled, since the race was postponed May 5 after torrential rains made things even gnarlier than planned.

With timing chips strapped to their ankles, teams of two kids took off Sunday from the starting line at one-minute intervals, racing down a muddy trail through the woods to their first challenge: a disc golf target. From there, it was uphill to their parked mountain bikes, where they strapped on helmets and rode a mile-long course.

“That was the toughest part,” said Ruthie Morton, 13, a Hendersonville Middle School student who tackled the GNAR with partner Lina Yokote. “There were so many hills. You'd have to get off and walk, they were so steep.”

Dismounting their bikes, the kids bouldered across a climbing wall, scrambled under a latticework of ropes, climbed over rain-slickened logs, mucked through a creek and then crossed water on a shaky “monkey bridge,” or hopped across a slippery bridge of tethered rafts.

That was followed by a canoe race, in which teams paddled out onto Wolf Lake and around a diving platform. From there, teams raced uphill to a kayak-pull, where they shouldered ropes and dragged a 15-pound playboat around a circle filled with water obstacles. Then it was just a matter of flying down a soaped-up plastic slide to the finish.

Cole and Christian Renken placed first in the youngest Parent/Adult division with a time of 21:53, while Kim Hall and her parent took first place for the 8- to 10-year-olds. Martin and Carl Greedy took top honors in the Parent/Adult division for 11- to 14-year-olds.

Fallon Welch and Walker Robinson of “Team High Flying Eagles” took first among males ages 5-7, while Jillian Hintz, 7, won that division with help from dad, Frank. Allyson Garcia and Madeline Hover came in second among the youngest girls.

Ben Kealy and Sam Fertik of “Team Mountain Expos” won the boy's 8 to 10 division with a time of 23:40, while Kim Hall, 10, won the middle girls' division. Ava Dockendorf and Anna Salvaggio of “Team Lighting Girlz” came in second among girls ages 8 to 10.

Among the boys ages 11 to 14, Hamilton Lopez and Rudy Sutton of “Team Rude Boys” placed first, followed by Isaias and Matias Akers of “Team Bornwild.” Cayden Herr and Scout Westphal won the 11 through 14 female division, trailed by Cammi Ochs and Brynn Welch of “The Worms.”